Chapter 9 - Caleb’s ChoiceCaleb Mercer did not answer police questions.
His attorney did.
Mr. Mercer respectfully declined.
Mr. Mercer had no knowledge of the cliff incident.
Mr. Mercer’s company had performed legitimate consulting services.
Mr. Mercer had never participated in violence.
Detective Ortiz expected all of it.
What she did not expect was Caleb appearing at the sheriff’s office at 6:40 the next morning without his attorney.
He looked as if he had not slept.
“I want a deal.”
Ortiz did not move.
“For what?”
“I need protection.”
“From Grant?”
Caleb laughed nervously.
“From prison.”
He admitted the shell company.
He admitted false invoices.
He admitted that Grant had authorized them.
The four-point-three million dollars had been routed through Summit Peak and then split.
Caleb kept six hundred thousand.
Most of the rest went toward Grant’s failed private development project in Montana.
Grant had personally guaranteed loans on the project.
A lender deadline was approaching.
Monday.
The same Monday Ethan had heard about.
“How much did Grant owe?” Ortiz asked.
“Three-point-one million immediately. More later.”
“And Ethan’s trust?”
Caleb looked at the table.
“Grant kept talking about the contingency clause.”
“What exactly did he say?”
“That if Ethan died, everything changed.”
Ortiz’s voice became colder.
“When did he say it?”
“Months ago. At first it sounded theoretical.”
“What happened the night before the cliff?”
Caleb began trembling.
“He told me the problem would be gone by Monday.”
“What problem?”
“He didn’t say Ethan’s name.”
“Then why did you say, ‘The kid is another’?”
Caleb closed his eyes.
“Because I knew.”
“Say it.”
“I knew what he meant.”
Caleb told them Grant had ordered specialized child-sized parachute equipment from a product testing warehouse owned by Hale Ridge.
No registered training event existed.
No certified instructor had been hired.
Caleb confronted him.
Grant told him to mind his own business.
“Why didn’t you call police?”
Caleb’s answer was barely audible.
“Because then he’d expose me.”
Ortiz stared at him.
“So you thought Grant might murder his ten-year-old son, and you stayed quiet because you were afraid of being charged with fraud.”
“Yes.”
There were confessions that sounded dramatic.
Caleb’s did not.
It sounded pathetic.
That somehow made it worse.
When Sarah learned, she wanted to see him.
Ortiz advised against it.
Sarah insisted.
They met through glass at the detention facility after Caleb was arrested on fraud and conspiracy-related charges.
Caleb could barely look at her.
“You came to our house,” Sarah said.
He said nothing.
“You ate birthday cake with Ethan.”
“I know.”
“You knew Grant was planning something.”
“I suspected.”
“You could have stopped it.”
Caleb pressed both palms against his face.
“I thought he was bluffing.”
“Everyone thinks Grant is bluffing until somebody gets hurt.”
He began crying.
Sarah felt no pity.
“Did Arthur know about you?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
“Is that why the audit mattered?”
“Yes.”
Sarah leaned closer.
“Did Grant kill Arthur?”
Caleb’s head jerked up.
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Arthur’s heart attack was real. Grant was in Chicago when it happened. So was I.”
Sarah believed him.
Not because Caleb deserved trust.
Because the lie would have gained him nothing.
“What was Grant smiling about?” she asked.
Caleb stared.
“At the cliff.”
“We don’t have video of his face.”
“Ethan saw enough.”
Caleb’s expression changed.
“I don’t know.”
Sarah stood.
“Then you’re useless.”
“Wait.”
She stopped.
Caleb leaned toward the glass.
“There was another camera.”
Sarah slowly sat again.
“You know where it is?”
“I know why he brought it.”
Caleb swallowed.
“Grant needed proof Ethan jumped voluntarily.”
Sarah’s heartbeat quickened.
“What?”
“He planned to edit the footage. Show Ethan standing at the edge. Show him wearing the rig. Make it look like a stunt gone wrong.”
“Where is the camera?”
“I don’t know.”
“But Grant had it after the fall?”
Caleb nodded.
“He sent me one message at 11:42 that morning.”
“What did it say?”
Caleb looked at Ortiz.
She already had the phone extraction request pending.
May you like
He repeated it from memory.
It’s done. Delete everything.
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